1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a data communication system and, more particularly, to an improved method and apparatus for a data communication system utilizing a coded digital signalling system.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In order to expand the capacity of a communication system, one may add more communication channels to the system or increase the amount of information carried on each of the existing communication channels. Since the number of communication channels is limited for most systems, it has been more practical to increase the amount of information carried on each communication channel by various methods, for example, multiplexing and digital techniques. The communication systems using these concentrating techniques must be reliable to insure that the information is not lost. The reliability of communication systems using digital messages may be enhanced by using such techniques as error correcting codes and multiple transmissions of the digital messages. However, prior art communication systems, such as radio communication systems, are still prone to burst errors and have yet to realize optimal usage of error correcting and detecting techniques in a bandwith limited system. This is especially the case with radio communication systems where interference and fading must be accommodated.
For the foregoing and other shortcomings and problems, there has been a long felt need for an improved data communication system.